Flashes
by LoveIsATemple
Summary: Little Klaroline drabbles that don't belong anywhere else. Some will be AH, others will merely be AU. I don't know what will come of this, so let's not hold our breath. Enjoy! (T rating for the moment)
1. A Cape and A Purple Top Hat

Summary: Klaus hates Halloween, Caroline doesn't. In typical fashion, she forces him to dress up and go to a party. Established Klaroline, AU.

* * *

 **A Cape And A Purple Top Hat**

"I don't believe in Halloween."

Caroline giggled as she stood in front of Klaus wearing her very ironic, very overdone vampire costume. She even had a cape that flowed behind her like a river of black and red velvet, and fake blood that tasted of sweet sugar coating her lips.

"How can you not believe in Halloween?" She looked him up and down in his boring 22nd century clothes that were just as boring as his 21st century clothes - black and black and oh look at that more black. "Weren't you there when the tradition started?"

Klaus ran a tired hand through his loose curls, which had loosened quite a bit since that morning due to Caroline's constant nagging about Halloween. She didn't mind that, though. He looked sexy with tousled hair. "Caroline, Halloween today is most definitely not what it was back in the day. Believe me."

"Oh, great, here we go again with your 'time was so much more simple back when blah blah freaking blah."

Stepping toward her, Klaus frowned. "Are you teasing me, Miss Forbes?"

"What if I am?" She quirked an eyebrow and pulled her red-stained lips into a cheeky smile. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Klaus grinned devilishly. "What do you want me to do"–

 _Ding_.

 _Dong_.

Klaus was cut off by the doorbell. He sighed and whipped around to face the door. "I thought I asked you to put a note on the door telling people we're not handing out candy."

Coming up behind Klaus, Caroline planted a kiss on his cheek. "Did I agree to that?" she checked.

"I thought so," Klaus said through gritted teeth.

Caroline was sure he would lose all of them if he kept doing that.

Batting her eyelashes, Caroline grabbed the hidden bowl of candy she had shoved beneath her coat earlier and smiled innocently at the old, no-fun vampire. "Whoops."

When the children left (after they had received probably too much candy from Caroline, but really, who could have too much candy?) Caroline turned her attention back to Klaus.

"Don't you think they were adorable?"

"A poorly made pirate costume and a freezing mermaid? No. I do not think they were 'adorable' as you so eloquently put it," Klaus sneered.

"God, who spit in your blood bag this morning?" she teased, running her fingers up his cheeks. He closed his eyes, as she had discovered a while ago he basically had to when she did this to get the full amount of pleasure. "Can't you be happy tonight. For me?"

Klaus groaned. "I loathe Halloween, love," he said. "It's a silly tradition."

Caroline moved the tips of her fingers to Klaus's neck, watching intently as goosebumps followed her path. She smiled secretively. She had him right where she needed him. "I love Halloween, though," she murmured, getting her lips right up to his ear. His dark gold hair brushed her skin. "I've loved it ever since I was little. Dressing up, pretending to be monsters, getting loads of free candy from strangers in a totally not creepy way. Come to Stephanie's party with me," she begged softly, breath roaming the shell of his ear.

"Mmph."

Caroline paused her ministrations and smiled against his rough cheek. "Is that a 'yes'?"

Klaus shook his head.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline moved her hands lower and lower until they covered Klaus's jeans front. "Come with me," she whispered dangerously, "or no sex for an entire week." She emphasised her words by cupping the clear bulge hiding behind his trousers and squeezing.

Klaus moaned angrily, eyes flying open. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

"You couldn't."

"Oh, I sure as anything could."

"When was the last time you went a whole week without sex?" Klaus asked, shifting uncomfortably. Caroline had yet to remove her hands.

Thinking back to a time before Klaus and daily sex sessions, Caroline grinned. "I went an entire year without sex before we bumped into each other."

"And since we bumped into each other?" He bent lower, holding her eyes in his hazy blue gaze.

She could get lost in those eyes.

Swallowing thickly, Caroline stuttered, "I-I don't know."

"We've not gone a day without sex in the twenty six years since," he informed her smugly.

Damn. She knew using sex as a bargaining tool probably wouldn't work. They both loved it too much.

Caroline dropped her hands and stomped back. "Fine," she said, crossing her arms. "I'll go by myself."

Lifting her cape, Caroline stormed off into their large house, nearly tripping over the fabric on her way to the bedroom. Once inside the room, she grabbed her keys and purse.

"Sweetheart." Klaus whooshed inside and grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from exiting the room. "Do you want me to come that badly?"

Slumping against his chest, Caroline sighed. "Yes," she said simply, shivering when Klaus coiled his arms around her.

She felt him stiffen slightly before grunting. "Fine," he conceded. "Fine, where's the bloody costume."

Giddily, Caroline escaped from Klaus's grasp and kissed him full on the mouth, not caring about how it would screw up her meticulous "undead" makeup she'd spent hours perfecting earlier. She opened her lips to receive Klaus's tongue, thinking momentarily that they could definitely not go to Steph's party and instead have crazy sex here, but she soon remembered how badly she wanted to go and extracted herself from Klaus once more.

Together, they panted. Klaus's lips were stained red.

"You taste very good," he applauded, swiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"The fake blood is essentially candy," she said, smoothing out her dress. "Your costume is in the closet, hanging up on your side." She pointed towards their large walk-in before heading into the bathroom to fix her makeup.

"Really, Caroline?" she heard Klaus inquire.

"What?" she called from the bathroom. "Is something wrong? Does it not fit?"

Klaus stepped into the bathroom holding his costume. "You're a vampire, and I'm Willy Wonka?"

"What?" Caroline asked innocently. "I thought it was cute."

"Cute? When am I cute?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be cute when you're wearing your Willy Wonka costume," she explained.

Klaus laughed incredulously. "It's not even a couple's costume! I thought it at least would be a couple's costume."

"It's not a couple's costume. Next year I'll get us a couple's costume, but for now go change. We're already an hour late."

Caroline watched out of the corner of her eye as Klaus slouched off to change, laughing silently to herself as she finished up her makeup. She had gotten the costume as a joke, thinking it would be funny for a couple of minutes to let him think he was going as Roald Dahl's cooky creation, but since he'd been so bitter about Halloween all evening, she decided not to tell him about the Dracula outfit buried in the closet.

'Payback's a bitch, Mikaelson,' she thought to herself as she painted a trail of blood down her pale chin. 'You of all people should know that.'

 **–**

Caroline jumped on their springy bed the second they returned home.

"I'm never doing that again," Klaus announced, throwing his purple top hat across the room. He started unbuttoning his coat while Caroline, tired and stuffy, tore off her dress in one motion.

"Really?" she breathed, tossing her dress to the side. She laid down, allowing Klaus to get a good, long look at her naked body. "I thought it was really fun. Everybody loved your costume."

Caroline watched as Klaus took a page from her book and ripped off his clothes. He crawled on to the bed, his half-naked body floating above hers. Her dead heart roared in her chest.

"Well, it did win most ridiculous costume, so I've got that going for me," he acknowledged, dipping his head to capture Caroline's red mouth in the type of searing kiss that made her toes curl.

"Mm, congratulations again," she said when he released her lips.

"What's my prize?" he asked, kissing down her neck until he reached the swell of her chest.

Caroline gasped and arched her back. "I think you know."

"Well, let's get started."

"See, it wasn't so bad," the blond vampire panted as Klaus continued to move his burning lips down her belly.

"I suppose not," he conceded.

"Yeah. And you totally wouldn't have won if I'd let you have your actual costume for the night."

Klaus's mouth stopped moving and detached from her heated skin. "My what?"

Lifting herself on her elbows, Caroline smiled sheepishly. "Hm?"


	2. A Visitor

Summary: Caroline Forbes was sad and alone after her mother died until he came. (AU, no baby plot, angst)

* * *

 **A Visitor**

She held the flowers in her hands. The petals and leaves shook along with her body as she walked with her weak, aching head held higher than she thought she could manage. But then, she was Caroline Forbes, stronger than anybody gave her credit. Stefan offered to come with her, but it was his fault she had not been there when her mother passed, she did not want him to follow her.

No, that wasn't why she refused him. It was because it was her own fault for not being there when her wonderful mother took her final breaths. Her fault it had to be _Damon_ there, holding her cold, feeble fingers, because she was too busy making kissy faces at a boy she had since decided was more like a brother than anything else.

Caroline's nonexistent breath caught halfway out of her mouth, creating a short cloud that stopped before it could properly escape into the freezing air. Her mother was gone. Gone. And all she had were some stupid flowers.

The blond vampire stared at the white things in her hands. Elizabeth Forbes never even liked roses. She hated their scent. Right now, Caroline agreed wholeheartedly.

Crunching broken, brown leaves as she walked further into the deserted graveyard, Caroline held tighter to the thorny flowers, wondering if wherever her mother was she was watching her. She was alone now. Really alone. Her father was gone, now her gentle, kind, supportive mom. All she had were the Scooby Gang, and while she loved each of them, they were not family so much as reluctant acquaintances turned friends.

Hot, thick tears bubbled in Caroline's eyes. She had not let herself truly cry yet, and as she sucked in a sharp, cold breath, she decided she wasn't about to start now.

She was strong on her own. A lone wolf. If becoming a vampire had taught her anything, it was that she needed nobody else to fight her battles for her. She was better than Elena that way. Elena always crawled to the Salvatore brothers when things got tough. Switched her emotions off because she couldn't handle feeling, and not feeling anything was the easy way out. But she was Caroline Forbes. A brave warrior that had overcome quite a bit in her first twenty years. Who had managed to become a fully functioning, healthy vampire with only a small amount of help.

She could make it in this life without attachments.

She was ready now to leave mystic falls. Nothing was keeping her here.

It was a depressing thought, but she had been wallowing in grief for weeks now. Maybe leaving would magnify her sadness for a brief period, but it was what she needed in the long run. She only hoped her friends saw it her way. They were all stuck here, tethered to the Virginian soil by roots they couldn't see. She had cut herself loose the minute her mother passed. It was time to stretch her legs.

The gravestone was buried deep in the old cemetery. For such a small town, there were a lot of dead people. Caroline crouched down when she reached the one belonging to her mother and gently placed the white roses against the headstone.

She stayed there, motionless and unspeaking, not knowing what to do. In the movies, they always talked to the dead, in the hopes they could hear you. She knew her mother, wherever she may have been, was listening.

"Hi, mom," she whispered, her throat tight. "I'm, uh, sorry it took so long for me to come see you."

Caroline nearly laughed. This was ridiculous.

"Mom," she sighed sadly, a sob rising in her chest. "Oh, mom. I'm so sorry," she whispered. She couldn't get her voice any louder. It was lodged, it was like a tennis ball had found its way into her mouth. "I wasn't there," she said. "I didn't see you, I didn't say goodbye. I'm so sorry," she repeated.

"And I'm sorry," she went on, staring up at the bleak, grey sky, "I'm sorry I didn't come here before. You have to understand," she said through the tears. The salty things fell into her mouth. They tasted so bitter. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't walk in here and see you like this. I wasn't strong enough–"

Caroline's voice cut off completely then. She buried her wet, scrunched face in her small hands and allowed a little bit of the sorrow she had barred inside her chest loose. She trembled with sobs, felt tears leaking through her fingers.

"But I'm stronger now," she said resolutely once the wave passed. Wiping her cheeks with her dark blue cardigan, Caroline smiled sadly. "I'm leaving, mom. There's nothing here for me anymore. You always said I was better than this town, and I'm starting to think you're right."

Caroline didn't know where she was going. If she would ever come back. She didn't know if she would be leaving with her entire life packed away, or if she would leave their old house with the memories still inside. Its mortgage was paid off. If she mentioned to one of the guys to look in on it, she could abandon it without a guilty conscience. Pack a small suitcase and finally escape.

"They don't need me, the others. They're too busy dealing with their own problems to care about mine. Which is okay," she said, patting her jean-clad knees. "It's okay. They're allowed to not understand. Well, Elena's apathy has been a little harder to swallow, but I get it. I get it."

Europe, she decided. She would start with Europe. Ireland. It was closest to the east coast. She would go to Ireland, then slowly make her way around the world.

"I miss you," she said softly, staring at her mother's tombstone.

Elizabeth Forbes. What a woman.

Caroline got to her feet, freezing when she saw someone standing in front of the grave opposite the headstone.

Shock ran through her blood, pulling her mouth open. She must have been seeing things.

He couldn't really be there.

"You–" she started saying, curiosity getting the better of her. But she didn't know how to finish the sentence.

The figure smiled sadly. It didn't fit his gorgeous face, sadness. It made him look his age.

Caroline looked him up and down. He wore all black. Typical. He seemed well and fit. Healthy. He glowed in the dismal graveyard like the sun.

"What are you doing here?" she asked breathlessly.

Klaus Mikaelson, hands clasped behind his back, nodded toward the grave. "I heard," was all he said.

She didn't know why - no, she did - his admission made her want to cry, but she found herself blinking smoke from her eyes. "Okay," she choked, "but why are you here?"

Klaus's blue eyes were softer than she had ever seen them. There was a kindness and warmth behind them she had noticed a couple of times when he still was trying to make Mystic Falls his own. A warmth she was sure nobody else was allowed to see.

"I'm here to take you away."


	3. Dry Your Eyes

**A/N:** I have not seen the leaked script for the KC phone call, I also don't really care if it's already been established Caroline can't lose the babies. This is my story, I am choosing to write what I want.

Klaus never got Hayley pregnant. Stefan and Caroline never got together. Title taken from Dashboard Confessional's song "Belle Of The Boulevard."

This is an angst-heavy piece, so be wary.

 **Trigger Warning:** **Miscarriage. Implied Major Character Death.**

 **Summary:** _'Magic,' he repeats. Then, 'I always meant to take you with me.'_

* * *

 **Dry Your Eyes**

Caroline falls. Falls straight to the ground. No, straight into Stefan's arms. He holds her, wrapping his cold arms around her swollen belly to stop her from crashing to the floor. He's speaking to her, whispering something - shouting something - but she can't hear anything above the loud, screeching silence ringing in her delicate ears.

Dead. He's dead. Beyond dedicated, beyond coming back. He's dead. Gone, like her mother, her father. Elena, Vicki.

Why does this happen to them? Why does this happen to the ones they love? They attract danger, they attract death. It shouldn't be that way. They are the undead. They should _repel_ death. It should fear coming anywhere near them.

But perhaps Death is an unhappy man. He nearly got them once before, and now he spends his eternal nights searching for them, waiting for the opportunity to pounce. To steal them into the afterlife.

Stefan takes her to the living room to sit down. Places her on a lumpy sofa and kneels before her, holding her hands in desperation. She is crying now. She can feel the hot tears falling to her clothes, soaking the fabric in her sadness and anger. Stefan is still trying to speak to her. She can see his mouth moving, his eyes wide and pleading.

She remembers the last time they spoke. Suddenly, it's as if she's there. The trees are golden. Sunlight streams trough the balding branches. He looks strong and worn at the same time, the curse of being the oldest man to walk the earth. He's smiling, though. Like he's happy to see her.

She is happy to see him too.

'You've gotten bigger," he comments, referring to her belly.

She nods. 'I know. It feels like I can't walk anymore. My feet are so swollen.'

Klaus takes a step in her direction, then another and another. Leaves crumble beneath his weight, the noise satisfying her immensely.

He reaches her, eyes sunken and grey. Her undead heart stutters to a halt.

'Soon,' he says, the one word swirling into the crisp air.

Again, she nods. 'Soon.'

One week. That was a mere seven days ago. And now he's gone.

Caroline crumbles into herself, unable to fully believe the most powerful monster has been taken from existence. But Stefan is there, explaining it to her. She catches snippets. Single words that she can string together into her own story.

Stefan, she knows, was not expecting this reaction. He simply planned on telling her their ancient tormenter had died, finally. He does not know yet of their affair. He does not know they have been speaking to each other, seeing each other, since Stefan returned from New Orleans one month ago. For the moment, she decides, he is blaming her emotional response on the hormones swimming around inside of her. When she has gathered her strength, she will reveal the truth.

Stefan stays with her for a few more minutes, watching in horror as the lights that usually shine so brightly in her blue eyes slowly diminishes until she is green and ashy all over. He gets off of the floor after far too long, presses his sloppy lips to her tight forehead, and disappears.

Dead, she thinks to herself, heart lurching. Her stomach feels strained. Heavy and cramped.

This is not real, she tells herself.

Klaus is not dead.

Klaus is alive.

When the children are born, she will run away with him and never look back.

They will love until the sun goes out. Until the world burns to cinders and leaves nothing behind.

* * *

 _'Caroline.'_

 _Lurching, Caroline's grip on her cell phone tightens so much she can hear something crack._

 _'Hellooo?' the smug bastard sings when she doesn't respond straight away._

 _'Where the hell is Stefan?' she demands, stroking her belly. One of the twins is pressing against her kidney. Not a good feeling. 'You haven't killed him, have you?'_

 _'Yes, Caroline, I've killed our dear friend. There is absolutely no other explanation available. I have his mobile because I killed him,' he says, sarcasm dripping in every word._

 _Caroline huffs. 'That's not funny. You're not funny,' she tells him._

 _'Relax, sweetheart,' he says soothingly. She scoffs at his use of the pet name. 'He's alive and well. Off talking with some witch or another.'_

 _'Then why do you have his phone?'_

 _It is a reasonable question. He should have no trouble answering it._

 _'He left it behind. Witch's orders.'_

 _Great. She was really hoping to talk to him._

 _'Why are you phoning him? Maybe I can take a message.'_

 _'Ha,' Caroline puffs. 'I'll just talk to him when he gets back.'_

 _'Come on, Caroline,' Klaus dares. 'Don't you trust me to get your note to the Ripper?'_

 _'Believe it or not, but I don't.'_

 _Caroline sucks in a deep breath and rubs her aching temple. She hasn't seen this man in two years. Everything has changed. Life has twisted itself into something unrecognisable. If Klaus came back to Mystic Falls now, it would be even more of a shock than when he came back the last time._

 _She wonders how he's doing. How he's liking life out in Louisiana. She wonders if it's better than life here._

 _It must be, she decides, considering he's only returned once, and that was to laugh in the face of a dying Katherine. And to sleep with her, but she won't think about that._

 _Nor will she think about how inexplicably_ happy _she is to hear his voice. How her heart thrummed when she realised it wasn't Stefan speaking to her, but Klaus._

 _Those thoughts only ever lead to bad things._

 _'Stefan told me,' he says startlingly, voice sounding nearly tense. Uneasy. 'He told . . . me.'_

 _Caroline, sitting by herself in her home, adjusts again, groaning when the weight pressing into her kidney worsens. 'Told you what?'_

 _There is a pause. Lengthy, worn. 'About your condition.'_

 _'My "condition,"' she parrots, moving again. Then it dawns on her. She widens her eyes and breathes out slowly. 'He told you about the twins.'_

 _'Yes,' Klaus grits. 'How is it possible?'_

 _She wishes she had an answer for him. She wishes, actually, that there was no need for an answer. She wishes this had ever happened, that she was still small and under the impression vampires could not get pregnant. That she could be herself again, not Alaric's unwilling surrogate._

 _'Magic,' she says instead._

 _'Magic.'_

 _She can see him shaking his head. See it clear as if he were in the room with her._

 _'Magic,' he repeats. Then, 'I always meant to take you with me.'_

 _Caroline sits up, sweat pricking her skin. He sounds so solemn. So serious and sad. Is this not Klaus "Love Makes You Weak" Mikaelson?_

 _'What do you mean?'_

 _'To New Orleans. I always intended to take you here. To snatch you from Mystic Falls. I wish now more than ever I had been able to convince you to join me.'_

 _'Klaus,' she says, laughing breathlessly. This is a joke. It must be. 'You're not serious.'_

 _'Oh, but I am. Two years is far too long, love. Too much can happen.'_

 _Caroline stares at her belly. She understands what he is saying._

 _'It's too late now,' she says, not sure why she is humouring him. He deserves nothing from her. She wants nothing from him._

 _'Dear Caroline,' he sighs, and she can hear that smile of his. 'It's never too late.'_

* * *

Blood. She smells blood. She _feels_ blood soaking through her clothes. Its sickly warmth sticks to her skin.

She opens her eyes and immediately realises what has happened. She is empty.

* * *

'They've just disappeared,' Stefan explains to Alaric, his hand resting on their former teacher's shoulder.

'How?' Alaric asks, winded. He's crying. She can't stand that. 'How the fuck did it happen?'

Stefan looks over at her, his eyes full of too much sadness. He gets it now, she thinks. It wasn't the hormones.

Caroline has her own tears falling from her eyes. She had lived with those babies in her stomach for months. They had managed to leave an imprint. But she isn't crying for them. They aren't hers to mourn. Klaus is hers. Was. He _was_ hers.

'I don't know,' Stefan is saying as a fresh wave of sobs clutches Caroline. 'I have no idea.'

* * *

She is packing a suitcase two weeks later when Stefan wanders through the front door. She doesn't look up from folding her trousers, but knows well enough to open her ears.

'How long were you seeing him?'

Dropping the pair of jeans in her hands, Caroline stares blankly at her bedroom wall. It's lilac in colour. The gentle purple once soothed her. Nothing is able to soothe her now.

'Only a month,' she responds distantly. 'We were going to run away together. After the twins were born, he was going to take me away.'

She almost smiles then, but, of course, she remembers before her lips can stretch. They quiver instead.

She looks at Stefan, whose eyes are garnished with their own tears, and runs her hands over her face.

'It's all so bad,' she says.

Stefan steps through the doorway and takes her in his arms, smoothing her knotted hair. 'Where are you going?' he asks softly.

'I can't tell you.'

'Can't?'

'I won't.'

'I'll miss you,' Stefan says, hugging her tight.

Caroline swallows the cotton ball sitting in her throat and says, 'No. I promise you, you won't.'

* * *

The ruins of Castle Acre Castle are nearly empty of tourists. Two other families roam the grounds, Caroline spots, with little children running about and chasing butterflies through the tall grass. Her heart aches the longer she looks at them. To distract herself, she opens the pamphlet she printed off of the Internet earlier about the ancient castle.

1066.

She reads the date of construction a few times, vision blurring the longer she thinks about what Klaus would have been doing around this time. During one of his visits to Mystic Falls after the phone call, he had informed her of his time in England in the early 10th Century, when this castle was more than random stones thrown about on the grass. When it was a beautiful structure with high walls and towers. He loved it here.

She can see why.

England in her mind had always been a dreary place. Cloudy, perpetually grey skies. Torrential rainfall that tumbled from the heavens in an endless flowing of cold, bitter droplets. She only ever saw rain and despair until Klaus. Now, standing here in Norfolk, surrounded by a millennium-old, fallen castle, she understands. Understands that her own warped images of places and things and people are so very different from their actual appearance. These grounds have a soul. She can feel it breathing every time the wind passes through the field.

Shielding her eyes from the thick sunlight, Caroline watches the children run around, fleeing from their parents. The families are leaving, grabbing the younger ones and dragging them away. She is alone, able to lay on the grass and not worry about being trodden on by children's small feet. And she does this, she picks a spot within the stony circle and places her head upon her seldom-used cardigan, closing her eyes and trying her best to block out the itching feeling that something is missing.

She awakens some time later. The sun is still shining. It will not set for another long while, something else she enjoys immensely about this place. Sitting up, Caroline takes her blue cardigan and pulls her arms through the long sleeves to combat the slight wind that rings through the distant trees. She rests her head upon her gathered knees, wrapping her arms around the shins, and listens to the noises of the wild. Birds sing the most haunting songs while bees tremble past her in search of sweet flowers.

She is not happy, she will never be happy again, but she is, she can decide, content.

Footfalls behind her, quiet and cautious, catch her attention. Though she left danger behind in Mystic Falls months ago, she is a vampire. Fear is her life. Her ears perk up, body goes rigid. She does not move.

When the person reaches her, she rushes to her feet, ready to fight. Her arms are up, fists clenched tight.

'Caroline.'

White, burning lights flash before her. Her heart thrums faster than a hummingbird's.

She is dreaming. She must be.

'You're dead,' she tries to say, but it leaves her lips like a whimper. 'Dead.'

Klaus catches her before she can fall to the ground, holds her. He smells so real, so alive. Alive, she reasons in her racing mind, as a dead man can be.

He kisses her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth, all while salt ridden water flows from her eyes.

'You had to believe it,' he says. 'You had to believe I was gone. But I'm here now,' he insists, kissing her mouth again, harshly. 'I'm here.'


End file.
